The performative turn in the visual arts. The art of Paul Klee
The performative turn in the visual arts. The art of Paul Klee

Summary/Abstract: The 1970s saw the emergence of the performative turn in many areas of the humanities. Although its most important representatives emphasized that it did include visual arts, specific examples were usually limited to action art phenomena, bordering on performance art, painting, or sculpture. This article is an attempt to demonstrate that the performative approach to art can be traced back to the avant-garde movement of the first half of the twentieth century. Moreover, Paul Klee’s concept of painting discussed here shifts the performative aspect from the artist's activity to the elements of the image, interpreted from the point of view of their interactions. The article examines the theoretical and pedagogical writings by Klee (both published during his lifetime and posthumously), considered as the basis for the interpretation of his paintings. The artist assumed that the pictorial elements are bound by the principle of motion – a line is a trace left by a moving point, while a plane is created by the movement of a line. Associated with this theory, defined as “performative geometry,” is the semantic interpretation. The whole concept leads to approaching a painting as a unique “performance” of pictorial elements. The article also points to other contemporary interpretations of Klee’s works, which examine the problems of performatics. On this basis, the author concludes that the source of the performative turn in the visual arts can be sought in the art of the 1920s and 1930s, as well as outside direct references to performance art.

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